When I was younger I remember an old wives tale that to be a bridesmaid more than three times was to condemn you to a life as a spinster. If this were the case in 27 dresses then Jane (our heroine) would have thus condemned herself 9 times over!

27 Dresses is rom com starring Katherine Heigl as Jane, a woman who has turned being a bridesmaid into an art form. She discovered a love of all things matrimonial at a young age when she came to the rescue of a bride in need and has since become the no. 1 bridesmaid to have. By day she works as an uber efficient PA to the managing director of an outdoor clothing firm. Jane pines after her boss, George (Edward Burns) who is blissfully unaware of her true feelings whilst her best friend, the acerbic Casey (Judy Greer) regularly takes her to task over her unrequited love. In her spare time Jane likes nothing better but relaxing at home and reading the wedding announcements in the paper, in particular those by writer Malcolm Doyle.

During a particularly taxing stint as bridesmaid (Jane is attending 2 weddings in one day and flitting from one to the other seemlessly), she bumps into Kevin (James Marsden) a hardened wedding cynic. She unwillingly shares a taxi home with him at the end of the night and like a modern day cinderella leaves not her shoe but her filofax behind. Kevin can't resist reading it and becomes intrigued by Jane and her role as perennial bridesmaid.

At this point enter Tess, Jane's younger model sister. When out at a works party with Jane, Tess and George meet and much to Jane's horror begin dating. Tess however, eager to secure George's affections begins recreating herself as a outdoorsy vegetarian whose interests closely mirror George's. Her contrivances succeed when George proposes and she innocently compounds Jane's agony by taking posssession of their dead mother's wedding dress (the dress Jane had always dreamed of wearing on her own big day). In despair Jane meets up with Kevin. He tells her she needs to start living for herself and saying no to others more often. She accepts the criticism but proves herself incapable of taking his advice though when she ends up taking on most of the organisation of the self-centred Tess's wedding arrangements. When Tess excitedly announces that her and George's wedding will be covered by Malcolm Doyle, Tess comes face to face with none other than Kevin.

Jane does her best to avoid Kevin, angry that he failed to tell her who he really was.Kevin however is tired of writing the wedding announcements and sees Jane's story as his ticket into writing real journalism. He makes the most of his need to speak to her about Tess's forthcoming nuptials to get to know more about her bridesmaid fascination. Chancing upon her bursting closet, he urges Jane to model all 27 dresses she has amassed over the years and photographs each ensemble. As they two begin to talk more you can see a thaw in their antagonistic relationship.

Will Jane continue to be walked all over by Tess and contain her growing uneasiness over her lies to George? What will happen if and when Kevin's article ever makes it to print? And will Jane get her man (and indeed if she does which is it, Kevin or George)? I don't want to give too much away about how the film ends so to discover what eventually happens you will need to watch the movie for yourself.

Katherine Heigl and James Marsden bounce off each other brilliantly and beneath the antagonism you see a growing understanding of one another which may betray deeper held feelings. One of my favourite parts of the movie is their drunken rendition of Benny and the Jets, made all the more entertaining by their inabilty to sing the correct lyrics (each one thinking their version the correct one). Malin Akerman and Edward Burns are well suited as George, the Boss who cannot see what is right in front of him and Tess who endeavours to make sure he only sees what she wants him to.

I thoroughly enjoyed 27 Dresses. It is a funny, warm and engaging film with some great one liners and a fantastic cast. It is a little predictable but to be honest show me a rom com that isn't; if you want unforeseen twists you're watching totally the wrong genre of movie! If you are at a loss for something to watch and fancy a laugh with a heap of romance thrown in for good measure then I would highly recommend this film.